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I realized I’d been staring at her, so I stopped and looked at the floor and then almost desperately in the direction that Newman had gone. You’d have thought after all this time I’d be less awkward around strippers, but being attracted to women was still new to me, and it threw me back to the old days when I was awkward around men. It was like starting over with a new gender was starting over completely. Or maybe it was just not having any of the men in my life with me that made me unsure of myself. I hadn’t had to meet new people on my own in a few years, and apparently on my own, I was just as awkward as I used to be. Great.
“Hi, beautiful,” the blonde said in a voice as silky as her dress.
Something about the tone reminded me of Jean-Claude back at the beginning when I’d been more a mark than a romantic possibility. The voice and the word choice were as fake as a three-dollar bill. I might be awkward with women on my own, but I was not a mark. My head came up, and whatever she saw in my eyes wilted the smile on her face.
“I didn’t mean to make you angry,” she said in a voice that was almost normal. She leaned her ass against the table, which made the bottom of the dress rise until it became doubtful if there was anything under it except for her. “Most women like to be told they’re beautiful. I know I do.”
“You’re beautiful, sexy, and more attractive dressed than the dancer onstage is nude. Now go find someone else to flirt with.”
“Why should I flirt with someone else when you say the nicest things?” The blonde was almost purring as she leaned her upper body toward me. She was giving me a chance to look down the front of the dress. I kept looking at her face.
I brought my badge up until it was in front of her big gray eyes. They widened a little bit, but then the smile was back to the sexy practiced one. “We get a lot of cops in here, but you’re my first female detective.”
“I’m not a detective,” I said, pushing my chair farther back so I could stand up. I was going to hunt Newman down.
The blonde sat down on my lap, taking the chair push as invitation. Rookie mistake on my part. I knew better. She wrapped her arms around my neck and gave a little wiggle in my lap, which made the dress slide up again.
“You’d better be wearing at least a thong under that dress, because I do not know you well enough to have your body fluids smeared all over my pants.” My eyes were back to looking angry, and I didn’t apologize for it.
“You haven’t got me that wet . . . yet,” the blonde said, giving me the full sexy look out of her big eyes. It might have worked, except I wasn’t kidding about not wanting her body fluids on me. The thought just creeped me, no matter how attractive she might be.
I saw Newman coming back with our drinks. “Get off my lap now.”
“I saw how you looked at me across the room.”
“What do you want?”
“You, darling,” she said, leaning in to try to kiss the side of my neck.
I put my hands on her upper arms to hold her back. “Liar. I’m working, and you’re working, so you need to find another mark.”
“Just because we’re on the job doesn’t mean we can’t have fun.”
It was the phrasing that got me, on the job. It was a cop phrase. Made me wonder how many of the local police frequented the club. “Some of the local cops regulars for you?”
“If you want information, you’ve got to play nicer than this with me.”
“This is me playing nice.”
“Are you a tough girl?” she asked.
That made me smile. “You have no idea.”
Something uncertain flickered through the blonde’s eyes, and then she was back to being sexy and flirtatious. If she was as good at her job as I thought she was, she’d be able to flirt even if she was bored out of her mind. People think that the strippers’ job is to dance onstage and take off their clothes, but that’s not really it. Their job is to get money from customers whether they’re onstage or off-. Some dancers enjoy the performance or are true exhibitionists, but not as many as you’d think. They dance for a lot of reasons, but the main one is to earn money to put themselves through college, to support their families, to support themselves. It’s a job, and if a dancer is sitting in your lap, she wants something, usually money but not always.
Newman hesitated with the drinks as if he wasn’t sure I wanted him at the table. I let go of the blonde’s arms and waved him over. I did not want to be alone with her any more than I had to be. If I was going to be awkward with someone this smooth, I needed backup.
The blonde had taken her chance to sit more firmly in my lap and put her arms around my neck. She gave a little wiggle. “If you were a man, I’d ask if that was a knife in your pants or you were happy to see me.”
“I’m not happy to see you,” I said, smiling.
Again, her eyes were uncertain, but she snuggled closer to me, working around all the weapons just fine. I was so not her first police officer, but then, she’d admitted that already.
Newman set the drinks on the table and smiled as the two of us looked up at him. “Marshal Blake, introduce me to your lovely companion.”
“I would if I knew her name,” I said.
“Phoenix,” she said.
